Martinů expert Aleš Březina to visit Madison

Aleš Březina, a Prague-based musicologist, composer and film collaborator, will visit the University of Wisconsin–Madison Wednesday-Sunday, April 23-27.

Březina will give a series of lectures during the week and will present several screenings of films for which he has composed music.

Březina’s lectures will explore his compositions for stage and screen, as well as his work on the important 20th century Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, on whom he is a world authority.

His lectures will be as follows:

• Wednesday, April 23, 4 p.m., Room 1221, Mosse Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St.: "Introduction to Bohuslav Martinů and Martinů Research."
• Thursday, April 24, 2 p.m., Room 2441, Mosse Humanities Building, "Martinů Institute and its Projects." 4 p.m., Room 4070, Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave., screening of "Musíme si pomáhat (Divided We Fall)."
• Friday, April 25, 1 p.m., "Oral History on Martinů." 2:30 p.m., screening of the documentary "Martinů and the USA." Both events will be held in Room 1121 of the Mosse Humanities Building.
• Saturday, April 26, 1-3 p.m., "Film Compositions of Ales Březina," with question-and-answer session. 3-5 p.m., screening of "Horem pádem (Up and Down)." 5 p.m., public reception. All will be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
• Sunday, April 27, 2 p.m., Room 1217 Mosse Humanities Building, "Ales Brezina’s Chamber Opera ‘Tomorrow Will…’"

Březina’s residency is sponsored by the UW–Madison Arts Institute and the School of Music. Partners include the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA); the departments of Communication Arts, Slavic Languages and History; and the Bolz Center for Arts Administration.